Ricochet
by Moosche
Summary: Alternate version of Survivors. Takes place after the series finale of Transformers Prime... Stormfire arrives on Earth to restore Optimus's memories, only to fail. That's where the Elite Division come in. And they cause havoc in their paths. KO/OC OP/OC
1. Chapter 1

**This is another version of Survivors**

**It has the same characters, just a different plotline**

**I thought of this halfway through writing Survivors :)**

**enjoy**

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><p><em><strong>Introducing Stormfire<strong>_

The team were extremely upset that they had just lost their leader and best friend. The rock that kept them all sane and together. They all tried comforting each other, but every conversation included their leader at some point. Even the kids were taking it hard. Sure, they were confused at first, but once they were told, they all felt the loss. Especially Jack. Optimus was like the father he never had. June saw that. Arcee caught Ratchet quickly typing something into the computer.

"Ratchet. What are you doing?" she asked, frowning.

"I'm hoping that someone is still out there, alive and well and able to get here." He replied, his optics flickering back and forth from his hands to the screen.

"Who is?" Arcee asked again.

"Optimus's bond-mate." Ratchet just simply replied. "Stormfire was hidden by Optimus because he was afraid she'd get hurt. He told me how to find her in cases like this, where he needed help. I just hope she can get here."

"I didn't know Optimus was bonded!" Bulkhead gasped.

"I bet you didn't know about his son." Ratchet smirked.

"Cool!" Miko shrieked. "Is he as tall as Optimus?"

"I do not know. Unfortunately, his fate wasn't as sealed as Stormfire's was. He ran away and never came back." Ratchet sighed.

"But you've met him?" Fowler questioned. "What if we find him?"

"I doubt it. Axel ran away over 4000 years ago." Ratchet turned to the humans. "He was just turning 1000. Which is about 10 in human years."

June sighed. "That must be hard for both parents. I wouldn't stop looking if I was one of them."

"That's the thing. They didn't stop looking. Stormfire certainly hasn't. It's her way of not staying in the same place long enough to get caught." Ratchet explained. "Even though Optimus may look like he's not trying. Every time I have seen him looking out to space on these scanners, he's always looking for a sign of Axel. The only fear he had was if his signal was changed because he turned to the Decepticons for help."

"That would be terrible." Miko exclaimed. "Imagine going against your own children."

"_Ratchet! Long time no speak!"_

"Stormfire! Thank Primus I've found you! We need your help and fast." Ratchet said after Stormfire's voice echoed through the base.

"_Why? What's going on?"_

"It's Optimus. He's . . ."

"_He's not dead. I know it!"_

"He's not. . . he's lost his memories"

"_What? But . . . How?"_

"He gave up the Matrix of Leadership to save this planet we are currently on. He's now with Megatron who would probably try to make him think he's a Decepticon."

"_What use am I going to be? I didn't meet him until he saved my aft in battle."_

"I was think that maybe because your sparks are bonded, it may trigger something within him and make him remember"

"_It may work- Oh be quiet- Sorry. Shifter's being annoying."_

"Shifter's with you!"

"_Of course. She's neutral. Independent. A bloody annoyance! Would you stop pretending to be dead already? Go and blast a decepticon!"_

"Will you be able to get here within the next few solar cycles?"

"_Possibly. But I'll need Shifter since she knows how to"_

"Just get here. Optimus needs you."

"_I know." _

Then the transmission cut off.

"Shifter?" Fowler questioned. "Who's she?"

"If I remember correctly. She is the only bot to have ever escaped the entire Decepticon army with ease. Her name is what her abilities are. The only bot in history to be able to change her shape just by scanning another." Ratchet replied.

"I know her." Arcee added. "She helped Cliffjumper out of a sticky situation with the 'cons."

"She is known to almost everyone by name. But not by image." Ratchet frowned, turning his back on the screens.

"What do you mean?" Raf asked.

"What I mean is that she has never shows her true form in front of anyone. Whoever has seen it, will only see it once. I don't know of anyone apart from a certain medic who has seen her true form more than once." Ratchet explained further.

"You've seen it?" Bulkhead exclaimed in surprise.

"No." Ratchet shook his head. "Only Knock Out."

"How has he seen her more than once?" June asked frantically.

"It is rumoured that he has managed to 'ground' her. Or as you humans say, fall in love with her and she returns the feeling." Ratchet shrugged. "It's also rumoured that they have had two younglings that were killed by Calibrate."

"I tell you what. Shifter and Stormfire must've had pretty powerful parents if one ended up being one of the best spies in the whole planet." Arcee mused.

"Not really. Shifter's abilities happened by chance." Ratchet smiled.

"Do we know their parents or have at least heard of them?" Jack asked.

"You definitely know their sire or father." Ratchet smirked. "Since he was Megatron's second in command."

"Starscream!" Arcee spluttered. "HE sired them!"

"Yes. However, he never had custody over them. Their mother, who turned to us in order to raise them better, Icestorm had full custody over them." Ratchet added. "Starscream didn't have any control over them."

"I suppose that's a good thing. Since neither are Decepticons." Arcee shrugged.

"They were both born Decepticon though. Shifter shows that side of their family." Ratchet argued. "Or so I've heard from bots that have seen her fight. She is known for murdering bots from both sides of the war."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Don't get on her bad side then." Bulkhead shrugged.

That was when the ground bridge opened up without Ratchet needing to activate it. It spread a pale blue glow through the base instead of the usual green.


	2. Chapter 2

_****____**Introducing Shifter**_

A slim figure waltzed its way towards the team. A near clone of Starscream stood in front of them, hands on his hips and an optic ridge raised, gazing around at the base. His face was much more rounded and he didn't have a helm fin, but still had the red and two black/grey stripes on his helm. What surprised the team more was the yellow optics. He smiled widely at Ratchet.

"You rang?" she sneered.

"SHIFTER!" another voice shouted. "Would you stop doing that?"

The owner of the voice ran through. She looked a lot like Arcee, expect in purple and without the pink hair like pieces. They were both the same height. And she also didn't have wings. She glared at the Starscream clone as the other just smirked at her.

"Ratchet. I'm sorry for my sister's forwardness." The purple femme apologised. "It's normal for her to do that."

"Is not." She shrieked.

"Really?" Stormfire asked to which her sister just shrugged. "Anyway, how are you Ratchet?"

"I'm well." But before Ratchet could say anymore, Shifter walked up to the platform.

"Oh Primus! They're tiny!" she exclaimed. "Can I have one?"

"No Shifter. Now leave them alone." Stormfire scolded her like a child. "Get outside and get lost somewhere."

"Fine. Maybe I will." Shifter pouted and looked around the large room. "How do I get out of here?"

"You can either follow the road or we can ground bridge you outside." Arcee replied.

Shifter's optics brightened and her smile turned mischievous.

"Shifter don't-" Stormfire warned.

But it went unheard. Shifter transformed into a jet and flew out of the base, through the small corridor. Stormfire folded her arms, keeping one held up, her five fingers spread. She lowered each in as a silent countdown. After the last one was lowered they heard a loud crash then silence and then a shout of I'm ok. Stormfire shook her helm, trying not to laugh at her sister's idiocy. Ratchet stared at Stormfire worriedly, his medic side kicking in.

"Will she-?" he started to say.

"She'll be fine." Stormfire waved her servo dismissively. "She usually does that. Her processor's on backwards."

"I think I should introduce you to your bonded's team." Ratchet decided to introduce the team while Shifter was gone. "This is Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, and these are the humans who we now look after: Miko, Jack, Raf, June and our own agent, Agent Fowler."

"Well. I think you've guessed I'm Stormfire, Optimus's bond mate." Stormfire introduced. "My advice to you is after a while, if Shifter starts to annoy you, just ignore her. She just gets bored easily."

"Has she always been like that?" Arcee asked.

"Kind of. It's more now because she left the intelligence division to take care of Encore and Chameleon and they didn't let her back because she was with Knock Out." Stormfire explained. "Don't ask her about it. She's a bit iffy about it. Especially the topic of Knock Out."

Meanwhile, Shifter spun around in circles, staring up at the sky above her. She found this planet to be gorgeous. She sat down on the edge of a large rock tower, looking out at the large, flat, red desert. She smiled to herself, remembering the last time she'd done this. Out of her own imagination, Knock Out was sat next to her. She looked to the ghost, her smile gone. Why did this world remind her of Knock Out so much? Why did anything? She was independent before him. She needed no one. Yet, once he stepped past her walls, she couldn't get rid of him. He was like an incurable disease. She hated it. She tried to avoid him for years. Then again, she found him again and it all started again.

She laughed to herself. "You're still there. Even though you're not. Ha. I'm talking like Primus now. Look what you do to me. Whatever you done . . . it's bloody permanent. I thought it was a bad thing. I was told not to let anyone close. But I couldn't push you away. You were kind of like me. An out-cast. Just like Encore and Chameleon. Hm. I still remember the first time you saw them. You said they were the second best beauties. And I was your first. No one had ever said that to me. I thought it would hurt for some reason, but you showed me otherwise. You . . . I can't even insult you. After all these stellar cycles.

"I bet you're watching me from the Well of Allsparks, just laughing at me like you usually would. I want you back. I want my life back. I've been with Stormfire after you left. I can't even say what happened. I don't want it to be real. After 5000 stellar cycles and I still haven't gotten over it.

"I've never done this. Express my feelings. Not even to you. Well, kind of. Then again, you never fully said yours to me either did you? I regret not saying that I loved you enough. I knew I should've dragged you off. I just knew you were going to be killed and yet I didn't do anything about it. It's my fault you're gone. I shouldn't have gotten so involved with you. But I just had to, otherwise, you'd just nag at the back of my mind.

"I miss you so much Knock Out."

She wiped her optics, not noticing the stream of tears down her face.

But her grieving was short lived when a blast shot not far from her and she fell of the giant cliff face. She slammed hard onto the floor, about 60ft down. She groaned as she lifted herself off the ground, but fell back down when pain shot up her leg. She looked down to find it almost bent in half. She clutched it, trying to re-align it. But she only made it worse and she didn't have enough strength to move it. Two large feet stomped just in front of her, about a step away. She followed the body up, her optics widening as she reached its helm. She knew the shape of the legs and the body, but she didn't want to believe it. Her jaw dropped at the symbol on his arm.

"Stormfire." She whispered.

"What is it Shifter? We're reading about 10 Decepticon signals around you." Stormfire replied frantically.

"Yeah. Get your aft here and slap your bonded! He just blasted me off the cliff!" Shifter snapped.


	3. Chapter 3

__**I hope you all like this crappy little chapter that took me forever to post up here**

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><p><em><strong>Broken Sparks<strong>_

"WHAT?" Stormfire screeched. "Get me a ground bridge now!"

Ratchet quickly summoned a ground bridge to Shifter's co-ordinates and Stormfire stomped through quickly with Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee behind her. Stormfire's spark dropped to the floor when they emerged the other side and her jaw dropped in horror. Optimus held a blaster at Shifter who was still stuck on the floor. A tear rolled down her face at the scene.

"OPTIMUS!" she roared.

He turned to her, not moving his blaster from Shifter. He frowned. "My name is Orion Pax."

"You get that blaster away from my sister." Stormfire warned. "I will regret my actions."

"What actions? You are an Autobot and so is she." Optimus frowned deeper. "You won't do anything to save a comrade."

"Yes we would!" she snapped. "You didn't leave me when I almost fell to my death and I got you out from Decepticon territory! Don't you remember that?"

"No." he plainly replied, hurting Stormfire. "Because it never happened."

"YES IT DID!" Stormfire cried. "YOU'RE MY BONDED!"

Optimus only just frowned even further if that was possible. "I do not know you. Nor would I have bonded with an Autobot!"

Stormfire was left speechless. Her own lover said he didn't know her. She knew he'd lost his memories, but hearing her say it only made it worse. She felt a tear run down her face as she glared at Optimus. The ground bridge re-opened behind her, but she didn't want to leave until she blasted some memories into his processor. However, her plans were trashed when Shifter used this as a chance to get out. She slashed Optimus's leg and run at Stormfire, grabbing her arm and dragging her sister through the ground bridge. They fought against each other, but Shifter got Stormfire through on an injured leg with Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee running through behind them. Shifter slammed Stormfire's shoulders into the wall.

"Look at me. He doesn't remember. But it doesn't mean he doesn't feel it. Use your link. He may doubt what the Decepticons say to him if he feels it. He'll think, no, know you are right." Shifter reassured harshly. "I'm sorry you've lost him for now. But you are going to have to fight for him. I never fought for Knock Out and look where that got me."

Stormfire wiped the single tear away and stood straighter. "You're right. If we are to get his memories back, we'll just need to remind him."

"But before you do anything, I need to look at that leg you're holding up." Ratchet interrupted.

"What leg?" Shifter asked, turning and wincing in pain. "That one."

She hopped over to the berth. "It's only bent."

"But we still need to look at it." Ratchet sighed. "It may be internally damaged."

"Ha. Good luck figuring out _my_ hydraulics." Shifter snorted. "I can't even do it."

Ratchet just simply pushed her leg into place, and opened up a panel in her leg to check the wiring but soon gave up after finding that it was all still in one piece and much more complicated than the normal wiring. Shifter stayed on the berth as the others started to think of ways of getting Stormfire through to Optimus. Stormfire stood leaning against the wall, staring at her feet. Shifter found herself lost in her thoughts yet again.

_It's as if history is repeating itself. I lost Knock Out to the Decepticons and now my own sister has lost Optimus to them. I can't let her lose the only person she has left like I had. I mean, I was never around her, but he was. Hm. Why us?_

"Shifter?" Stormfire called.

Shifter looked up to her sister, who pointed up at the large screen, showing two signals. Shifter's optics widened and she limped closer to the screens in shock. She shook her head, not believing the signals. It was one Decepticon and one Autobot. But she knew the two signals.

"Get me there! NOW!" Shifter demanded, growling at Ratchet.


	4. Chapter 4

_****___**Sorry for the delay on this**

**I completely forgot I had to update them**

**anyway, there is a small touch of child abuse in this, to me anyway. If you don't see it, then that's ok. If it offends anyone then I'm sorry, but I feel that it was needed to show his opinion in his son's disappearance.**

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><p><em><strong>The Message<strong>_

Megatron stomped to the medical room, where Orion was being repaired. He pushed the door to the side, too impatient to wait for it to slide. He didn't want to lose a valuable source in the Decepticon army. He wasn't told what sort of damage Orion had taken; he'd bounded off before the eradicon could explain anymore. He was relieved to find Knock Out working on a large gash in Orion's leg.

"What happened?" Megatron boomed.

"A new Autobot attacked me." Orion explained.

"New Autobot?" Megatron frowned. "Do you know who she was?"

"No. But another one had said that she was my bonded and the one that attacked me was her sister." Orion recalled. "They did not say their names."

"Ha ha. Stormfire has come to get what was hers!" Megatron laughed, not noticing the sudden pause from Knock Out.

Knock Out looked up at Orion, doubtful at what he said. He was convinced that Shifter wouldn't find him. She hadn't in 5000 years and she was known for finding bots that didn't want to be found. He went back to his repair job, trying to take his mind of the subject.

"You said her sister was there?" Megatron suddenly took in that part of the explanation, surprised to hear that.

"Yes. She said she would regret her actions if I did not free her sister." Orion nodded.

Megatron smiled widely. "One of the best spies on Cybertron has come out of hiding! Why not take her out for good this time?"

Knock Out suddenly dropped the tools he was using.

"Knock Out! You clumsy glitch! Hurry up with that repair job. We need Orion fighting fit for the battle." Megatron ordered.

Megatron ordered all the Decepticons into the main bridge for a meeting on the next plan he had concocted. He was in the middle of explaining something when an eradicon interrupted him.

"You better have a good reason to be interrupting me!" Megatron growled.

"Lord Megatron. There is an Autobot who has a message to give you. He says it's urgent." The eradicon explained shakily, clearly petrified of their lord.

"Send him in." Megatron sighed.

The eradicon stepped aside to let the red Autobot through. The red finish made him stand out in the dark crowd. His fearful optics scanned the room as he nervously stepped through to the giant leader that towered over twice the Autobot's height. Knock Out glared in shock at the Autobot, clenching his hands into fists to stop him from storming over and snapping at him. The Autobot was almost exactly like Knock Out: but with narrower shoulders, the wheels buried in his back, and his helm fin curled to the side. He stared up at Megatron, trying to find his voice.

"Lord Megatron. Sir. I have a message from the Elite Division." The nervous Autobot explained before handing a data pad to Megatron.

Megatron snatched the pad and gave it to Soundwave to transfer and play it to him:

"_Megatron. We have Orion Pax. Hear this as a warning to all."_

Megatron frowned at the message, and then laughed. "They claim to have Orion when he just stands beside me. Unless they are so full of themselves that they know they will be able to take him."

Megatron fiercely dismissed the Autobot, who sprinted out of the main room. The leader then dismissed everyone else so that he could think of ways of protecting Orion, even though he knew they would never dare to touch the former Autobot leader. Knock Out was chasing the Autobot in a flash, soon catching up to him and dragging him into the control room, with a vice like grip of the terrified bot's arm. Knock Out ordered a ground bridge and shoved the other through harshly. Once they were through and the ground bridge had closed, Knock Out turned to the red bot, glaring in anger.

"WHERE IN THE PIT HAVE YOU BEEN?" Knock Out roared in rage, gripping the red collar plates of the other and holding him close to his face. "YOU WORRIED ME AND YOUR CARRIER FOR 5000 YEARS! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK US TO BELIEVE YOU WERE DEAD? THEN YOU JUST SHOW UP WITH A MESSAGE FOR MEGATRON, LOOKING AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED! WHY DIDN'T YOU FIND US SOONER?"

"Let me get some words in! Primus it's like talking to Unicron himself!" the other spat.

Knock Out punched the other's jaw, denting the frame. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?"

"Then calm down!" the other shouted back. "We won't solve anything with shouting."

Knock Out didn't know what to say. His optic ridges lowered into a death glare and stepped towards the other. "You listen to me Chameleon. Neither I nor your carrier, have seen you for 5000 years. We thought you were dead after 1000. And you expect me to be calm about this. I will surprise myself if I don't rip you apart."

"And you expect me to listen to a murderous sire?" Chameleon shot back. "You're no different you hypocritical glitch! You could've made more effort in finding me! I was banned from any communication with you! And besides, if my carrier was this great spy who could find out anything then why couldn't she find me!"

"BECAUSE SHE LEFT IT TO PROTECT YOU AND YOUR SISTER!" Knock Out held onto the collar plates again. "If she found out that any of us, especially you and your sister, were hurt then it would take us forever to get her to believe in herself again. Do you know how hard it was for her to get over losing TWO sparklings?"

"And you took no time in forgetting us." Chameleon sneered.

"NO! I WOULD NEVER FORGET!" Knock Out once again punched Chameleon's jaw and held the back of his helm firmly, holding it close to his face. "Don't you dare say I never cared or forgot. Someone had to stay strong for your carrier when no one else was. Losing Encore was the last string of hope gone for her. We always wanted a family and the day we lost the both of you broke us both. Don't expect to just walk in and return normally."

"KNOCK OUT!"


	5. Chapter 5

**So so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry for the huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge gap inbetween uploading these**

**I've been so busy that I actually forgot all about them.**

**We'll be seeing a lot more of this family before getting back to the action. But you'll love it. I assure you.**

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><p><em><strong>A family reunion<strong>_

Knock Out's jaw dropped and he suddenly let Chameleon go as Shifter walked towards them, frowning deeply at the actions of her family. She had to step in and stop Knock Out from hurting Chameleon even more. Shifter walked over to Chameleon and pulled him to his feet, softly brushing his jaw as she checked it. That's when Knock Out's spark screamed at him. He'd hurt his own son. He let his emotions rule him. He turned his back on the two, unsure of what the two thought of him now.

"Go and help him." Chameleon whispered to Shifter. "I'll be fine."

"He needs to cool down first." Shifter spoke softly.

"I've watched bots interact most of my life while being a messenger. He's hurting. Even though you can't see it." Chameleon smiled. "I'll be fine. Please go and help him. I don't want you to be fighting over me."

Shifter glanced to Knock Out. His back was still turned to them, his shoulders tensed, his fists shaking at his sides. His shoulders sagged and started to walk away from his family, trying to hold himself together. He may be an obnoxious and full of himself, but Shifter knew how he was underneath that. Chameleon nodded to Knock Out and gently shoved Shifter in Knock Out's direction. Shifter quickly run over and wrapped her arms around Knock Out's waist, stopping him from going anywhere. Knock Out tensed up but soon relaxed and turned in her arms, copying the gesture. They both closed their optic covers, savouring the feel of each other's arms.

"I can't believe you're both alive and alright." Shifter breathed, burying her helm in Knock Out's shoulder.

"I never thought I'd see you again." Knock Out whispered even quieter. "Nor Chameleon."

Knock Out pushed Shifter back and went over to Chameleon, who was smirking to himself.

"You don't need to be sorry." Chameleon said before Knock Out could say anything. "I probably would've done the same."

Whatever was still holding Knock Out's shoulders up tightly visibly snapped and he relaxed freely, taking Shifter's hand.

"There's just one last person before we can be complete again." Shifter mumbled.

"Hey." Knock Out pulled her closer. "We still have each other. You remember what happened. We can't change it."

Suddenly, Knock Out's optics widened as he realised something.

"You two have to go back to the Autobot base." He demanded quickly.

"What? Why?" Shifter frowned.

"Megatron knows you're here and wants revenge on you." Knock Out blurted. "I'm not losing you again, so I need you to hide. If I can convince him you're not here, then you'll be safe. Both of you."

"I'm not going anywhere." Chameleon shrugged. "Why hurt a messenger boy?"

"Chameleon. Do you realise what'll happen if you do not reply back to the Elite Division?" Knock Out hissed. Chameleon frowned and shook his head. "They will hunt you down. The Elite Division is an impossible party and they are more violent than the Decepticons! Now go or you'll be killed."

"You are coming with us this time! I'm not having you almost kill yourself again." Shifter demanded.

"If I go with you, they'll find out that I told you." Knock Out argued back. "Pl-"

A small fluttering beeping noise ran around them. Knock Out knew the sound. His spark dropped at the sound as it came into view. Soundwave. Or his drone.

"Get a ground bridge now. Get out of here." Knock Out pleaded.

"No. Not without you." Chameleon snapped. "Come on. We've just got back together, so don't expect us to walk away easily."

"I'm not having either of you hurt again. I can take it. I've been under Megatron's command for stellar cycles, you two haven't. I can deal with it." Knock Out pushed them back.

A ground bridge opened with Stormfire running through and warning them about a Decepticon army heading their way and to get through immediately. Chameleon ran to join her, but Shifter still pleaded with Knock Out. She cupped his helm and caught his lip plates in hers forcefully. It may be their last time they would be able to be together while being online. Knock Out's lips moved against hers, his hands softly brushing her hips, reassuringly. His hands moved to her abdomen and forcefully pushed her back into Stormfire, who held her back as they dragged her through the ground bridge. Knock Out turned his back on her and faced the army, ready to talk them down.

"Knock Out. Lord Megatron wished to see you." one of the drones ordered, before another took a smaller version of his energon prod to his neck.

Knock Out shouted in pain and fell to his knees, almost offlining. Breakdown stepped forward, staring down at his partner worriedly.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" he asked softly.

"Nothing." Knock Out smiled before offlining.


End file.
